A local display device that includes a USB port operates as a USB host for pluggable USB drives, such as USB flash drives. The local display reads the data file or files stored on the USB drive, manipulates the data, as necessary, and displays the data. Accordingly, a USB drive can first be plugged into a USB port of a laptop, which operates as USB host to write data, such as videos or other content over the USB connection, to the USB drive. Thereafter, the USB drive is unplugged from the PC and plugged into the USB port of the local display device, such as a television, which acts as USB host storage function to read the video data or other content from the USB drive into local storage in accordance with the USB protocol. The display device then operates in a known manner to display the locally stored data. Similarly, other types of removable storage may by used in the same manner to provide static content to a local display device. The content may be, for example, MPEG video files. Removable storage may be used in the same way to provide data such as MP3 audio files, and so forth.
The local display or audio devices and the removeable storage devices work well together, with the local display device able to access and utilize the previously stored video, audio, or other data, that is, static content, stored on the removable storage device.
What is needed is a mechanism to provide dynamic content, such as remote desktops or streaming video, to the local display device.